(meteorobs) meteor colors

[pmartsching at mchsi.com]

I think no two people perceive color exactly the same.  We grow up being told various objects, etc. are certain colors and we learn that, even tho each person may not be seeing exactly the same tones, hues, etc.  My parents once owned a car that to my eyes was "dark blue" or at the very greenest "very slightly greenish dark blue"; but my mother and my sister insisted that the car was "green". 

Some of this is also noticed when observing double stars - even when they are far enough apart that one star can be gotten out of the telescope's field of view - so as to not have the contrast effect "messing up" the color determination.  If there are only three or four people this can be an interesting project observing double stars and each person writing down the colors they see without comment and then after all have viewed a particular pair comparing the results; also later comparing the results with published sources.

I have observed around 40,000 meteors.  Of these fewer than 5 were truly green.  The brightest was a mag. -3 Geminid.  Fairly bright shower fireballs often start out yellow or orange, but at peak brightness are usually white.  I have seen quite a few fireballs in the mag -4 to mag -8 range that I would describe as very pale blue, blue-white, or pale greenish blue (these often starting out yellow or orange). I once observed the Perseids with a person who said most of the bright Perseids were green.  To me the same meteors were either white or pale yellow.

One of the most beautiful meteors I ever saw was a South Taurid in late September which was a scintillating ball of blue-white sparkles (like the "flare" from a very bright object, such as a welder's torch) nearly as big as the Moon with an orange wake several degrees long - magnitude probably -12 ?)

As for red meteors - I have seen only 5 or 6 that I would call truly red - but a fair number of red-orange or deep orange meteors.  (We must remember that many persons call Arcturus and Aldeberan red stars - tho they are actually more orange.)  The brightest and slowest sporadics I have seen were all yellow or orange or deep orange thruout their paths (mag -8 to mag -12).  

I have not seen many truly blue meteors.   

Paul Martsching